Improvement in piano-fortes



UNITED STATES MAURICE YERGNES,

Partnr @muon OF NEV YORK, N. Y.

IMPROVEMENT IN Piano-Poesias.

Speciiication forming part of Letters Patent No. 45,943, dated January 17, 1865; antedated January 2, 1865.

T0 @ZZ whom it may con/cern:

Be it known that I, MAURICE VERGNES, of the city, county, and State of New York, have invented a new and useful Improvement in Piano-Fortes, by which a drum attachment is applied 5 and I hereby declare that the following is a full and exact description thereof.

To enable others skilled in the business to make and use my invention, I proceed to describe its construction and operation, reference being had to the drawings hereunto annexed 'l and making part of this specification.

Figure Al is a section of the mechanism which multiplies the speed of the blows upon the drum, acting by the force of a spriu g, like that of a clock5 Fig. 2, a plan showing the same.

The same letters refer to the same things in both the figures.

A is the hammer; B, the place of the drum. The sounding-board alone can be substituted for the drum and produce the eii'ect. C is a coiled spring to operate the mechanism; D, cams or pins on the side of the wheel, that strike the heel of the hammer and produce either the roll of.the drum or the sudden blow5 E, the heel of the hammer; F, a iiy to regulate the motion; G, a cord reaching to the pedal, which draws the slide and operates the work5 H, the slide; J, the level part ofthe valley, in the upper side; K, the iear shoulder5 L, the forward shoulder; M and N, two slats with screws to hold the slide 5 O, the middle space5 P, the center wheel, against which the shoulders K and L of the slide H are pressed to make the friction necessary to hold the mechanism still5 Q, part of the curb-strap5 R, the point on the frame where it is fastened; S, the fastening upon the slide5 T, a spring under the heel of the hammer, to give force to its blow on the drum 5 U, the spring which lifts the hammer from the drinn during the roll movement; V, the curb-strap, holding the hammer firmly upon the drum until by the action of the pedal upon the slide it is loosed so that the hammer can strike; WV, the loose end, drawn tight by the pedal, and limiting the movement of the slide X, the elastic strap beneath the slide, which brings it to its place when the pedal releases it.

The purpose of this invention is to place within or connected with a piano-forte or any clavichord instrument a piece of simple machinery operatin g a trip-hammer which shall,

i at the will of the performer, strike a drum or any sonorous thing.

The machine shown in the drawings is intended to be set in a piano-forte upon the frame-work or on the sounding-board, and to connect with the pedal by means of a wire or cord, G, which shall set the works free at the touch of the foot upon the pedal, and thus strike one blow or a rapid succession of blows, l like the roll of a drum. The manner in which all this can be donc is obvious, and there are many ways in which the machinery can be arranged.

I propose to make the apparatus substantially as shown, using a clock-spring for power as the most compact and manageable, and multiplying the motion upon thelast wheel in so much that a strong spring may be used, and its operation last through an evening or more.

The drum, or rather tambourine, as it would be if placed in the instrument, would best be put beneath the sounding-board, through which a holewould permit the hammer to strike; or the skin may be stretched on a hoop, and that united rmly to the sounding-board, upon the top, and this is the simplest way, and admits of its application to many instruments in use and not constructed with reference to this device.

A separate pedal is required to operate the hammer, and a string or wire, G, reaches to a slide, H, setting againstthe cogs of one ofthe wheels P, and held there by a spring, X. rIhen as long as the pedal is pressed by the foot the hammer will repeat its blows upon the drum, with a force commensurate with that of the spring, and the instant the pedal is released from the pressure of the foot the hammer ceases to strike.

To produce the roll of the drum followed and ended by a sudden blow, as in ordinary drum-playing, the footis pressed lightly upon the pedal, so moving the slide H that it will not touch the wheel I). The strap V Q is thus loosed, and the hammer no longer curbed down upon the drum. rIhe machinery operates to strike the heel of the hammer E and lift the hammer alittle, audit strikes in rapid succession, but, being curbed cannot strike a hard blow. To finish the roll by a heavy blow on the drum, the foot is pressed harder on the pedal and the slide drawn farther forward, thus loosening the curb V Q, andthe hammer rises higher and is enabled to strike with more force.

By the action of the slide and the curb on lhe hammer, any degree of force may be given to the blow, or a succession of hard blows, or a faint succession of strokes, making a general roll or a mixture of these, and any roll can be ended with a heavy blow or begin with one.

What I claim as my invention, and desire to A Eeure by Letters Patent, is-

l. The application to a clavichord instru- 

